Roads raise land prices in Nairobi’s outskirts

Land prices in Nairobi’s satellite towns have gone up significantly over the last year mainly driven by roads expansion.

The latest land price index released by real-estate firm Hass Consult yesterday showed Juja, 32.5 kilometres from Nairobi, saw prices appreciate by 45.2 per cent in the year to March, with an acre going for an average of Sh11.1 million.

Ruiru, which is on Thika Road and adjacent to the Eastern Bypass, recorded a 44 per cent increase, with an acre fetching Sh23 million.

Limuru, which is set for new road link, on the other hand recorded a 41.6 per cent increase over the period, with an acre of land fetching Sh21.3 million. Ruaka on the Northern Bypass recorded a 31.2 per cent increase with an acre going for Sh80.5 million in the period under review.

While Tigoni has not been on the growth radar, it recorded a quarter-on-quarter surge of 5.9 per cent rise in asking price. “Tigoni which had witnessed a period of stalled land pricing over two years saw the highest increase in land prices over the first quarter of 2017, we expect in relation to the recent upgrade of the Ruaka-Banana-Limuru road that was for so long an access bottleneck to the suburb,” said Hass Consult head of development consulting and research Sakina Hassanali.

Ms Hassanali said new higways such as Thika provide substantial benefits to users in the form of travel time savings and reduction in costs associated with operating vehicles, hence attracting huge demand from developers.

Similar increases were witnessed within the city suburbs linked to road projects.

Muthaiga recorded a 30.3 per cent increase in land prices with an acre costing Sh139 million. Donholm recorded a 23.8 per cent increase year-on-year with an acre of land rising to Sh63.9 million.

Langata had a 19.5 per cent increase in the period with an acre costing Sh57.3 million.

“Donholm saw land prices increase as a result of the expansion of Outer Ring Road while Langata and Karen witnessed land price escalations attributable to the completion of the Southern Bypass,” she said.

According to the survey, while land priceS increased, this did not correspond to property price increases. “Property end users are more likely to pay a premium once the project is completed,” said Ms Hassanali.